Reed Travel Exhibitions’ ibtm events is combining its two shows in the Americas. ibtm america (originally launched in 2011 as americas Incentive Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition) and ibtm latin america (created from the 2014 acquisition of ICOMEX) will now be ibtm americas, debuting in Mexico City September 5–6 2018.
According to ibtm events Portfolio Director Kerry Prince, the Latin America market, which previously was served by ibtm latin america in Mexico City, will provide a strong and growing backbone to continue to grow the North American market as well. The Latin America event has been experiencing a strong growth in international exhibitors over the past two years, 12 percent of which are from North America. The organizers expect the newly combined show to increase that percentage, as well as bring more North American hosted buyers, while continuing to draw participants from Latin, Central, and South America.
Reed Exhibitions Americas President Herve Sedky said, “We are looking forward to combining the experience of our Mexico team, our ibtm america team, and the wider Reed Travel Exhibitions team and bring that to ibtm americas. Ultimately, by merging the two events, we can offer bigger opportunities and a richer experience to our exhibitors, hosted buyers, and visitors.”
The merger will not affect the remainder of the ibtm portfolio, with ibtm world continuing to be held in Barcelona, Spain, this year from November 28–30. ibtm china 2017 will take place August 23–24 in Beijing; ibtm arabia February 5–7, 2018, in Abu Dhabi; and ibtm africa April 19–20, 2018, in Cape Town. ibtm events will produce its final edition of AIME 2018 February 20–21, in conjunction with the Melbourne, Australia, Convention Bureau.
